While NFL analysts have long been criticizing Tua Tagovailoa and saying that he is nothing special, his teammates and his coach have been unwavering in their support. Coach McDaniel has consistently rooted for his QB, and the relationship between the two is of mutual respect and adoration. He also went to bat for his QB at a press conference last week and vehemently disputed the notion that Tua is a system QB who is benefitting from having the likes of Tyreek Hill on his team.
Ahead of the Frankfurt SNF in Germany, Mike McDaniel sat down for a chat with Rich Eisen and Co. And apparently, by the time the chat ended, there was not a dry eye in the room. So what did McDaniel say to illicit such a response? It was his faith in Tua and his impassioned defense of his abilities that had the room choking up a little bit. Rich Eisen on his show revealed the details of this conversation and needless to say, it was a treasure trove of information and insight into the HC. Eisen sounded very impressed with McDaniel as he revealed what the HC replied to still having faith in Tua after people “led us to believe he didn’t have it anymore,”
“He went on a soliloquy about how he watched all the film on Tua, and he saw somebody throw 20 different out routes against significant coverage, and these are the types of throws that he said make your heart go like this, and he pounded his chest.”
“And he saw somebody that kept on throwing accurate football into windows that few people can and he said that was one of the things that sold him on Tua. That he was an accurate thrower of football, he was someone who could put the ball in certain windows and he was somebody that had absolutely no fear in doing so.”
Rich Eisen revealed that “McDaniel was wiping tears from his eyes and causing all of us in the room to get choked up also,” by the end of this conversation. But McDaniel’s unshakeable faith in Tua was not the only thing that had people choked up, it was his unique and compassionate take on coaching. He has the same unshakeable faith in every single one of his boys.
According to Eisen, McDaniel is a coach like none other and it is because of the kindness and compassion he brings to the locker room for his team. He recognizes them all for their individual abilities and is cognizant of the fact that they need to be constantly reminded that they are special, to keep the flame alive.
Coach Mike McDaniel is an “Absolute Stud”
After the meeting, former QB Dan Orlovsky was also in awe of the FinsUp head coach as he took to his Twitter to share his admiration of him. Calling McDaniel an “absolute stud,” Orlovsky was completely in awe of him as a coach. He iterated that while everyone knows he is good at strategy and everything, where he truly excels is knowing and understanding what it means to be a coach.
